Begin Again
by itstenoclock
Summary: That's what he wanted the most - A new beginning [Rated M for gore]
1. Chapter 1

**I** **don't own American Horror Story or any** **of** **the characters.** **I only own the plot.**

Maybe it was the way he walked, or the way he talked or even the way his eyes glimmer that drew her in. He reeled her in like a fish on a rod with his faded scars and his similar taste in music. He was like a magnet for suicidal teenage girls named after a deep, depressing shade of blue.

Of course, she fell for him immediately. How could she not? He had the face of an angel but the mind of a devil. Maybe she could've lived with that, maybe it wouldn't have matter to Violet that her boyfriend was a murderer and threw his life away because he loved watching the pain, the worry and the fear of death spread across his victims faces and the trickling stream of their blood after he pulled the trigger.

Although he swore he was different now, Tate would never change. A part of him lusted to feel his cold hands wrapping around someone's neck, to hear their breath getting sharper as he slowly deprived them of oxygen.

The other part of him, the majority, wanted to start afresh. To meet Violet, the unrequited love of his life, again. To fall for her again. To save her from death but succeed this time. To go to the beach with her again. To tell her he loved her over and over. To not screw things up this time.

That's what he wanted the most - A new beginning.

"What on Earth do you think you are doing?" Nora asked, outraged as she gaped at the girl in front of her. Violet Harmon, razor in hand, stood in front of the bathroom mirror. She didn't have to turn around to know Nora's blue eyes were fixated on the blade in her hand "Why on Earth is that in your hand?"

"It's art, Nora" Violet replied blankly. She didn't care. Truth was, she didn't care about anything. What was there to care about anymore? Everyone she loved was either dead or had betrayed her "My wrist is my canvas and this blade is my pencil"

"Violet" Nora said softly as the dead girl turned around to face her. Violet's caramel eyes were filled with loneliness and pleading, a truly soul-shattering look on a beautiful face "I think your art work is the worst thing I've ever laid eyes upon"

"Leave me alone!" Violet shouted, her mood changing like a light switch. Tears ran down her cheeks uncontrollably. All the broken pieces of her heart rattled in her chest with sadness.

"Won't you ever understand, Violet?" Nora put her hand on Violet's cheek, trying to keep back tears of her own "You aren't stable, my child. You are wrecked with longing and consumed with self-hatred. Leaving you alone will do nothing but amplify the voices in your head"

"I can control it anymore" She sobbed as Nora pulled her into her arms "I just can't. I tell everyone I'm fine but I'm not, I'll never be fine again. I ended my life and now I want it back so bad despite all the bullshit"

"Really?" Nora cradled her head and stroked her hair. She would've been a good mother if Thaddeus had lived to be a teenager "Is that all?"

"No" Violet wept in a barely audible whisper "He was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. I loved him so much it hurt and then he screwed it up. I hate him, I hate him!" She slumped to the floor and buried her head in her lap. Nora bent down beside her.

"Violet, do you really believe all these ludicrous lies you tell yourself?"

"Jesus H. Christ, this house is cheerful" Constance muttered sarcastically to herself as she enter through the back door.

"Leave" Tate said bluntly as he heard his bitch of mother let herself into her old house. His angry narrowed eyes were focused on her, hoping that he'd make her uncomfortable and she would leave.

"Tate, honey" She took a seat at the island and took out a cigarette "Are we really going to do this?"

"Yes" Tate replied, still watching Constance through eyes filled with rage. The more he looked at her, the angrier he felt. She was no mother to him. He loathed every inch of her "Leave"

"You know, Tate" She began, lighting her smoke and taking a drag "If you were as loving as your other siblings, you'd be the perfect man" She exhaled "But no. Your siblings were beautiful on the inside and you were beautiful on the outside. Sometimes I think that if your exterior was a reflect of your interior, you'd look more like Adelaide or dare I say, Beauregard. Not that it matters" She moved a piece of her blond hair out of her face "They were both burdens on me anyway"

Tate had had enough. He grabbed one of the knives from the holder and stabbed it down violently on the surface, nearly missing Constance's hand. she laughed

"You sicken me, you hypocritical bitch!" He spat at her "You caught your husband cheating on you so you shot him right in the heart, a heart that no longer loved you. And you know why he cheated on you? Because you had been with him since you were sixteen and he was sick of your nagging and your goddamn bitching. My father was a smart man and if I were him, I would have done the same and worse!"

Constance yanked the knife out of the counter and held it up to her son's neck.

"Baby, you don't know the half of it" She growled, dropping the knife to the floor. It landed with a loud clatter. Constance stepped away and turned around, leaving the way she came.

**Feedback appreciated** :)


	2. Chapter 2

Violet liked to go up into the attic when she was bored or lonely or sad or felt any negative emotion. The attic was always entirely empty expect for Beau. He was so innocent and Violet craved that. He made Violet feel like nothing had ever happened. The move, the invasion, those assholes on Halloween, her mom's pregnancy, her own suicide, Hayden, her parent's death, him.

She would sit on the dusty attic floor most days rolling the red ball back and forth to possibly her only friend in the world. The house was lonely as anything and had been deserted ever since her father's death. Her parents were always caught up with their immortal newborn baby or in their rekindled love for each other. There was nobody else except for Beau or him.

"I wish you could talk" She mumbled as she rolled the ball to him again. He grunted in response and rolled the ball back "I need to speak and nobody else ever listens"

She wanted to leave the stupid Murder House. But whether she liked it or not, those walls would house her and the rest of the trapped souls that lived there forever. She longed to feel the wind in her hair or the sun on her face again. The small things that she hated about being outside when she was still alive, she yearned for now that she was dead.

"I hate being trapped in here, I want to go outside. Although you probably don't know what outside's like. It's a different world out there, Beau. It's not yours, it's not mine. The worst part is that nobody in this city knew who I was, they didn't care that I killed myself. Nobody except my parents did"

Beau grunted as if to say "That's not true"

"Well, maybe some other people but it's not like they stayed with me in this mess of an afterlife"

"Violet? You up here?" Vivien called up the ladder.

"Yeah - I'm here mom!" Violet shouted down, rolling the ball back to Beau before standing up.

"Who were you talking to, honey?" She asked, her words wrapped with worry. Worry that Violet would be talking to him. It insulted her that her mother would think she would ever dream of talking to him ever again.

"Beau"

"Beau? Who's that?"

"Why don't you come up and meet him, mom?"

Tate didn't have a lot of possessions in the house. When Constance moved out, she most of Tate's stuff with her. The few things he did have he kept in a small box, hidden away in the crawl space. He sat in there, surrounded by the smell of dust or more recently, death.

It was one of those days that he sat in there, he felt something other than the ever-present longing for Violet. He felt remorse, regret. When Violet killed herself, Tate left her body in there to rot. He left her skin to turn green and flies to eat away at her. Heck, he didn't even close her eyes. He loved her so much and he didn't give her a proper burial. What did that say about Tate Langdon?

He climbed down to where the body. She was still beautiful when she was rotting.

"I'm so sorry, Vi" He wept as he cradled her lifeless body in his arms. He lifted her head up and buried it in his neck. He stroked her light brown hair, that was once so soft but had now grown dry "I love you. I never stopped and I never will stop"

"Such sweet words" Someone said behind him. He looked up through tears. A woman stood there, badly burnt but smiling at him.

"Who are you?" He asked as he wiped his tears. She bent down to him and put his hand on the shoulder of Violet's dead body and turned her over to look at her.

"I'm Lorraine Harvey" She smiled, running her blistered fingers down Violet's cheek.

"As in Larry Harvey?" Tate questioned as he laid his love down on the cold floor to talk to her properly.

"He was my husband but he left me for the lady next door" Lorraine recalled sadly "The night he told me that he was in love with her. I couldn't bare it so I looked myself and my daughters in their bedroom and set it alight"

"I'm sorry" He wasn't sure what he was sorry for, but it was the right thing to say. He wanted to do the right thing from now "Constance is my mother"

"That explains a lot" Lorraine replied, standing up "Same shade of blonde, same face structure. Different eyes though"

"My dad's" Tate sniffed. He looked down sadly at Violet's body and felt Lorraine looking down at her too "She hated herself. The first time I ever laid eyes on here, she was cutting her wrists. I thought...I thought that she would stop, that she would love herself a tad more because I loved her. In the end, she swallowed a load of sleeping pills. I tried to save her, you know. Put my fingers down her throat and she threw some up, not enough though. I was too scared to tell her that she was dead so I just left here to rot"

"I'm sorry" Lorraine put her hand on the crying wreck Tate had become "I have a suggestion that might make you feel better"


	3. Chapter 3

When you were trapped in a house of mass murder, silence was a concept you could only wish for. The spirits were always restless, always wanting attention. Being disturbed during the night wasn't a rare occurrence for Violet.

She went into her room at night and 'pretended' to sleep, spirits don't sleep. She liked to lie down, rest her head on the pillow, close her eyes and pretend to be alive again. Normality was distant now. Death changed everything.

"Wake up skank" Hayden demanded as she barged her way into Violet's room. Forcefully, Hayden grabbed her forearm and picked her up easily.

"Get your hands off me!" Violet protested as she struggled in Hayden's grasp. Digging her nails deeper into Violet's skin, Hayden pulled Violet out of her room.

"Shut up!" Hayden shouted as she slapped the daughter of her ex-lover around the face. She continued heave the dead teenager down to the basement.

"What do you want Hayden?" Violet screamed as she was shoved into a chair. Hayden picked up a rope that was lying lazily on the floor and wrapped it around her several times.

"Pain" Hayden hissed, securing the rope behind her "Nobody stops by this house after your dad's 'accident' and I have so much anger that needs to be taken out on someone. That someone is you, slut"

"I'm dead so even if you wanted to hurt me, you couldn't" Violet stated, smirking and earning another slap from Hayden.

"Don't get smart with me" Hayden snapped. She bent down to look get a better look at her "You better pray hard because you'll be begging me to have me to have mercy on you!"

"If you want pain, just sleep with my dad again" Violet sassed "I sure my mom would beat your whiny ass back to Boston, anyway"

Hayden took a series of hard punches at her face until a trickle of scarlet escaped her nose. If she was alive, her face would be throbbing like hell. For a tiny person, Hayden could punch well. Violet, narrowing her eyes, spat her dad's former adulterer.

"Bitch" Hayden grabbed Violet's long hair and yanked with such strength that the chair fell over. Violet hit her head on the hard concrete of the basement.

She was unconscious...for now

The attic had always been home to Beauregard Langdon. When he had been alive, his mother had forbid Tate and Adelaide to go to the attic and see him. He loved his mother, despite all the suffering she put him through. He could never hate her. She gave him life and he knew, deep down, that she loved him dearly.

It was only when she moved into the house next door that his siblings visited him. Tate, like Beau, was dead and trapped in the house and was always available to play. Addie would sneak in at night when the Harmons slept.

For years, his brother and sister were his only friends. Day in day out, Beau would sit in the shadows rolling the ball to himself. Tate stayed with him sometimes and they stayed together for hours on end. Same with Addie, but her visits were less frequent. She was always happy and until a while ago, so was Tate.

Then everything changed.

Addie stopped visiting him. He thought she didn't want to see him anymore. He didn't understand how Addie could just forget about him and Tate. It was the most horrible pain he'd ever felt. To be forgotten about.

Soon after Addie stopped visiting, his mother broke the news to him - Addie was dead. A hit and run accident on Halloween. It was devastating for everyone. She was loved by everyone. Constance had bought her mask for Halloween because she wanted to be a pretty girl. Beau didn't understand - Addie was a pretty girl, if not outside definitely inside. By those measures, Addie was the most beautiful girl to ever live.

Then Tate and Violet stopped coming to the attic together. They came separately more often but they were always sad and it wasn't the same. Beau loved the extra attention from both of them but it was different because they were always moped around.

Beau would give anything for things to go back to how they were before.

"Lorraine?" Tate called as he entered the crawl space. It seemed bigger now that he knew Violet's body wouldn't be a constant reminder of the love that slipped through his fingers. It would a constant reminder that the one person he truly loved would be as close to peace as they could be.

"Hello" She greeted as Tate's blond hair came into her focus. He jumped down to where the body and Lorraine were. In his hands, he had a large bag filled with what Lorraine told him to bring "I see you have everything"

"Yeah" Tate replied, looking at the bag. He bent down and emptied it on the floor of the crawl space. The content was spread out along the floor for Lorraine to examine. Tate noticed that Lorraine had got rid of the flies that were living in Violet's mouth "Where do we start?"

"Here" Lorraine picked up a medium-length black dress that Violet wore once back in Boston and then threw to the back of her wardrobe. She wouldn't miss it.

Shakily, Tate removed the clothes she had died in and one by one, put them in the corner where they were then neatly folded by Lorraine. He pulled the dress over her head and put her arms where they were supposed to go. When he was finished, Tate crossed Violet's lifeless arms over her chest. He left her shoes and socks on because if he had taken another pair of her shoes, Violet would've definitely noticed.

Then, he began on the makeup he had borrowed from Ben and Vivien's bathroom. He first, with some help from Lorraine, covered her pale face in a light layer of foundation and put concealer some places to highlight her features. After this, he applied smokey gray eyeshadow and liquid eyeliner. He struggled with the mascara so Lorraine to over from that point. Once that was done, Lorraine carefully put on deep red lipstick.

"Perfect" Lorraine said as she stepped back and admired their handy work.

Tate moved her so she was lying on her back and then placed a note in her hands which read:

_Here lies the most beautiful girl that I had ever laid eyes upon. She didn't smile as often as she should've but when she did, she made everything feel okay. She didn't love herself the way I did but she also didn't need anyone to make her feel like a million bucks. The world stopped to admire her when she laughed. Rest in peace, Violet - I love you. _

He placed a kiss on her forehead and with that, he left with silent tears rolling down his cheeks.


	4. Chapter 4

Constance Langdon was well acquainted with death, accidental or otherwise. It followed her around like bad smell and hummed in her ear. Tragedies happen, she understood that much, but how could so much of it happen to one person?

Hugo, her husband, had loved her but at some point, he must have stopped. He began to drown himself in liqueur for whatever reason. His children were hard to cope with. The Langdon family couldn't go out all together because of the looks and the comments people made. Constance never thought that her beloved husband would be on the receiving end of a gunshot fired by her and she truthfully didn't want to kill him. At least the dogs enjoyed him.

Moira was a girl who could give Hugo what he wanted. She would've made him very happy, the whore. It was Constance's who hired her in the first place and she should've been aware of the risks that hiring a sexy house maid would rise although she never thought Hugo would be one to cheat. Clearly she was wrong.

Then there was Beau. Her sweet angel who she couldn't take care of properly. He was in pain and he would've never been able to have a normal life. Keeping him alive was cruel. She hand contemplated putting him out of his misery a long time before his death but the letter informing her she would be charged with child neglect settled it. She made Lawrence do her dirty work because she couldn't bring herself to kill him herself. He was her baby, after all. Regardless of looks.

Tate was a good boy for the first part of his life. He was a polite, happy child - full of life and love. She honestly had no idea where it went wrong. He turned into an unrecognizable shadow of himself. He didn't accept Lawrence as his new father figure and he knew that his mother felt nothing for him so he set him on fire. The flames were captivating. They were the only light in his life at that moment. Larry deserved sweet, sweet revenge and that Tate had seen it through, nobody could stop him. Through the unbearable heartbreak of watching her son be killed by a SWAT team, Constance was relieved that they had done what they had to do because she would've been his next victim.

Whilst Constance was not responsible for the death of Addie, the guilt hung around her shoulders like a weight. She had called her all those terrible things and, despite apologizing, Constance still felt Addie's anger towards her. She tried to blame her death on Violet but knew it couldn't stick. It wasn't anybody's fault (except for the driver of the car who sped away) but a good example of how you should be careful what you say to people, because it could be the last thing you say to them.

And The Boy Dahlia was the cherry on the top of a cake baked in grief. Again, an example of minding your word. Their relationship might have been toxic and filled anger, jealousy and insecurity but Travis was more than a mere boy toy. He was a single ray of sunlight in a raging storm. She had loved him.

Sometimes Constance wondered: Who was the real Langdon psychopath?

The house was so full yet somehow depressingly empty or so Vivien liked to suppose. She knew there were many trapped souls but she had only seen a small selection of them. Obviously Ben and Violet, Nora she saw frequently when she offered to take care of the baby, Hayden popped here and then when she felt in the mood to piss Vivien off, she occasionally caught a glimpse of Tate but he disappeared before she could say anything and more recently Constance's other son, Beau.

Vivien was currently on a search to find her daughter whom she had not seen since last night. Even in death, Viv was determined to be a better mother to Violet even though Violet insisted she was already a good mother. Good wasn't good enough for Vivien. Mothering Violet wasn't just a responsibility now, it was a hobby.

Except Violet was nowhere to be found. Vivien had checked all the places Violet usually hung around. The attic, her bedroom and the kitchen were all vacant. She had searched in every nook of every room - even the basement that Violet wouldn't go near. The basement was Tate's territory.

"Ben, have you seen Violet?" Vivien asked as she entered her husband's office. Ben didn't see patients anymore on account of being dead. The office was no more than another room in an abandoned house.

"Not since last night" Ben replied as he sat on the couch and put his feet on the coffee table "Have you checked the attic?"

"Everywhere" She explained "Kitchen, dining room, living rooms, all the bedrooms and bathrooms, every closet - even the basement! I think she's avoiding us, Ben"

"Everywhere?" Ben questioned, standing up "Even the crawlspace?"

"Not there" Vivien realized "Why would she be there?"

"Who knows" Ben shrugged "But we don't know for sure that she's not in there. I'll go check now"

Ben left the room without saying another word to look for his daughter or at least to put his wife's mind at rest.


	5. Chapter 5

The Langdon brothers weren't close as such. They didn't see each other everyday or play for hours on end. Tate visited Beau for short periods of time and maybe every few days. Not that Beau minded - He was just thankful that people would go and see him, even if it was just for a few minutes.

They were connected mentally and their relationship built on trust and understanding. Tate told Beau everything because he was unable to speak however Tate had faith that even with speech, Beau wouldn't tell a soul. He didn't judge, or at least Tate didn't think so.

"I miss her, you know" Tate mumbled as he passed the ball back to his deformed brother "Not like you miss something you got rid of, it's like a dull ache at the back of your heart. I'll look at something or get a song stuck in my head and think 'Violet used that...' or 'Violet used to play that song...' and everything floods back" A few tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked up at his brother through watery eyes "I was such an idiot back then, Beau. I threw it away before I even had it. She changed me"

"Wow" A voice interrupted him. He turned around to see the angry mother of his ex-girlfriend "Turns out you are capable of remorse"

"V...Vivien" He stuttered tearily as stood up, a tad intimidated by her presence "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"To what, Tate?" She said, raising her voice "To sexually assault me? To impregnate me? To break my daughter's heart? To attempt to kill my husband? To kill me?"

Her words hit him like a thousand knives

"All of it" He cried "Please, please forgive me. Let me start over, I promise you I'll make up for everything!"

Vivien placed her hand on Tate's cheek. He smiled weakly.

"You can't" She slapped him hard across the face. He looked crestfallen as he looked up at Vivien through his dark brown eyes "I'm sorry, did you think I'd forgive you? Perhaps give you my blessing to be with Violet? Wake up Tate!"

"Please, Vivien" He wept "I was a stupid son of bitch back then! Everything changed when you and your family came - I became a better person. Please I-"

"Save your sob story for someone who'll believe it" Vivien replied bluntly "I came up here for one reason and one reason only - Do you or do you not know where Violet is?"

"N...no, why? Is she missing?" He asked, panicked at the thought of Violet being lost forever.

"Bullshit!" She shouted, throwing a nearby chair in his direction. Fearfully, Beauregard cowered in the shadows. Tate covered his head in defence and slumped to the floor.

"I don't know!" He responded, tears drying on his face "She told me to go away remember!"

"Then where is she?"

"How the hell should I know? I haven't spoken her in ages!"

Vivien, realizing that he was telling the truth, started to calm down. She sat next to him.

"You know, I approved of you two before I found out" She said quietly.

"Really?" He sniffed

"Yes" She nodded "You made her happy, well happier at least - Violet's always been depressed"

"I tried to save her" He bawled, covering his eyes with his palms to stop the tears "She took every single one left in the bottle. I don't know why she did it" There was no stopping it now, streams ran down his face causing Vivien to let a few tears fall "I could've stopped her...or she could've talked to me...but she chose to kill herself" He looked at Vivien, who was wiping away tears "I'm sorry"

She pulled him into a hug, allowing him to cry on her shoulder.

"You loved her" Vivien stroked his blond hair "And she still loves you" she pulled away "Which is why you need each other"

"You said you weren't going to give me your blessing" He whispered as she got up

"You changed and so can I" She replied, climbing out of the darkened room.

"Do you get bored?" Violet asked, tilting her head to the side and looking at Hayden with mock innocence.

"Of what?" Hayden breathed angrily, folding her arms.

"You know, wanting to destroy my family" Violet replied, staring the red head down as she watched the rage in her eyes grow rapidly.

"Honey, your family had already gone down the shitter" She had started pacing around the chair Violet was tied to "That's why your dad decided to screw me in the first place. He grew bored of your bitch of a mom"

"Well" Violet laughed "Mom was always taught to give her toys to the less fortunate"

Hayden kicked the chair forward, making Violet's face hit the hard floor before crouching down a few feet away from her.

"I guess she did" She smiled fakily "I guess that's why your here. You are my toy, Violet Harmon. My personal punch bag"

"Close your legs, I can smell the fish from here" Violet snarled. There was a nasty gash on the side of her head now but she didn't care. Hayden was a bitch and her self-esteem needed to be taken down a notch.

Hayden laughed evilly and stood the chair upright again. Violet noticed that she was clenching a sharp shard of broken glass so hard that her own blood was dripping down onto the floor.

"I hope for your sake that you close your goddamn mouth before something really bad happens to you" Hayden said as she cut Violet's cheek with the glass, making blood pour down her face like a waterfall.

"You're a psychopath!" Violet screamed

"But you dated one" Hayden laughed "Although it didn't bother you back then. Were you jealous that he did your mom before he did you?"

"Shut up" Violet mumbled

"Maybe you were just thankful that somebody actually loved you"

"Shut up!" She screamed this time. Hayden clamped her hand over Violet's mouth and brushed the shard along her hostage's other cheek.

"No, you shut up" The auburn psycho whispered "I didn't want to have to do this but you give me no choice"

"What?"

"A writer writes, a surgeon cuts"


	6. Chapter 6

If there was one thing Moira O'Hara could do, it was clean. Clean everything and anything, from top to bottom, side to side until it was gleaming. She despised untidy houses and felt obliged to clean.

But there was another reason why she cleaned.

Families in need of a maid were either lazy or falling apart. The Harmons weren't in need of a maid when they first arrived at the famous LA murder house but Moira sensed that Vivien and Ben's relationship was doomed and that their so-called 'fresh start' wouldn't last long.

That's why they needed her.

The process of their separation was painful to watch but Moira had to think of it like ripping off a band-aid. All over quickly with minimal pain.

Tempting Ben into bed with her proved more difficult than it should have been. Her younger form had served her well in getting men to cave. Ben wanted it, she could see it in his eyes. They were filled with lust. He wouldn't budge though, determined to stay faithful and claiming that he loved his wife. The sad truth was he didn't want to be thought of as the man-whore everyone knew he was.

Moira, in her older form, dropped hints to Vivien about her husband. Planting seeds in her head then slowly watering them until they bloomed. Vivien had to know how toxic Ben was for her.

Then, the couple died. It was tragic but it changed Moira's perspective on their relationship. Vivien and Ben would be lingering in the Murder House for eternity, only able to leave once a year. They might as well have been happy. In death, they needed each other. In life, each other was the last thing they needed.

Sometimes the ones you want are not the ones you need.

Violet and Tate were the perfect example. Violet did not want to be with Tate yet she needed him like a life line and she was his drug. She made him a better person than he could ever be seeing a shrink.

Moira learnt a lot by cleaning the house for it's various different owners over time. She knew them better than they knew themselves. So much so that Moira would be a therapist for the residents then Mr Harmon could ever be.

The crawlspace was dark, damp and smelt like something had died in there. It was unlikely Violet was in there. While the dark, silence and secluded were part of her criteria, this place was too small and claustrophobic. Ben knew she wasn't in there but he was looking for the same reason he ever did anything - to make Vivien happy.

"Violet?" He called out, his voice echoing in the empty space. There was no response except a few scuttles of what he assumed were rats or some other rodent.

As he made his way deeper and deeper into the crawlspace, the disgusting smell seemed to disappear a bit and was replaced by the smell of perfume, Violet's perfume.

"I know you're in here, Vi" He sighed, hoping his daughter would appear from the shadows or that she'd call out. Still nothing "You can't avoid us forever Violet. What have we done wrong? Tell me"

That's when he caught a glimpse of it.

Violet's body, covered in a dress she had worn in Boston. It complimented her features and Ben didn't know why she didn't wear it more often. She was wearing makeup but not the usual sort she wore. Foundation and concealer and a load of other products Ben couldn't name.

This was Violet's tomb and there was a note in her hand.

Someone must have given her a funeral at sometime. Ben wasn't even aware that her body was in there, let alone that she'd had a funeral.

Curiosity taking over him, Ben bent down to take the note from Violets stone-cold hands. Carefully, he unfolded it and began to read.

Here lies the most beautiful girl that I had ever laid eyes upon.

Who had written this? Violet had little friends in the house. Ben knew it wasn't Viv because he would've recognized her handwriting and Beau couldn't write, let alone get into the crawlspace. The note was far to informal to be from Moira and it couldn't be him.

She didn't smile as often as she should've but when she did, she made everything feel okay.

That was true. Violet's smile was the most precious thing because they were so rare.

She didn't love herself the way I did but she also didn't need anyone to make her feel like a million bucks.

Violet had been independent from the start and never needed someone's approval to do something. She didn't follow the crowd and wasn't afraid to be her own person which Ben admired about her.

The world stopped to admire her when she laughed.

Also, true. This person, whoever they were, spoke a lot of sense.

Rest in peace, Violet - I love you.

Everyone loved Violet - How could they not?

"Touching isn't it?" Someone spoke as they stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, dark brown hair, brown eyes and thick brows - Chad. One of the homosexual ghosts that lived in the house.

"What are you doing here?" Ben growled as he stood up to confront the other spirit. Chad smirked and leaned against one of the walls, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"If you must know, Benjamin" Chad began as he examined his long fingernails in the little light there was in the crawlspace like a true beauty queen "Pat's been sneaking off somewhere and I fear his back to his old adulterous ways. He's been sneaking down to the basement a lot and when I saw you come in here, I thought he'd be with you but clearly not"

"Why would I take interest in your boyfriend?" Ben replied, annoyed by Chad's unwanted presence "I have a wife, a family"

"But that's happened before" He interjected, deliberately wanting to aggravate the other man "Hasn't it, Dr Harmon?" Ben's face was suddenly washed with shame. Chad, seeing his guilt, chuckled deeply "Nothing stays hidden in this house for too long. Tell me, how's Hayden doing?"

"How should I know?" The psychiatrist said angrily, wanting to be rid of this pathetic son of bitch once and for all.

"No need to get mad" Chad retorted "You act like such as a saint with your family but everyone else can see right through your goddamn mask. Did it ever stop?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"But you do" He laughed "I know you do and I'll let you decide what to do about it"

Chad started to disappear back into the shadows when he turned around.

"It's only a matter of time before she finds out anyway..."


	7. Chapter 7

"Violet Harmon" Hayden said slowly to make Violet more and more anxious "Meet Charles Montgomery, doctor to the stars"

"Miss McClaine tells me you're in trouble" Charles continued, oblivious to Hayden's plan. His interest was doing his job, not what this auburn haired manipulator had to say. Everything he did was in the name of science "I am here to help"

"No, no, no" Violet protested as Charles grabbed her fore arms and Hayden grabbed her legs. They lifted her onto the table and tied her down.

"Worry not, Miss Harmon" He turned around to get his tools out of where he had stored them and inhaled some ether to boost his creativity. Turning back around, he grinned at the terrified dirty blond.

"You deserve it" Hayden hissed in her ear as she stroked Violet's hair menacingly "You will respect me, Violet because if you weren't already dead, you'd be praying you were"

"Don't cut me open!" Violet wept violently as she looked up at Charles through watery eyes. He didn't hesitate to lower his scalpel down to Violet's lower abdomen, making a long incision.

Blood leaked out of her stomach. She tried to lift her head up to see, only for it to be pushed back down with force by Hayden. Her head began to race from where she had been smacked down and the countless other times Hayden had caused damage to her head.

"Help me!" She screamed as she felt more blood ooze out of her. Charles was now dragging a knife up her leg, leaving nasty grazes and cuts as he moved up and down. Violet felt the knife catch her skin and it being lifted up slowly - she was being skinned.

"Stop crying!" Hayden shouted back at her, slapping her hard across the face.

Ignoring Hayden's orders, Violet continued to kick and scream as she began to lose the skin on her legs. Fear began to take over her as she shook herself hysterically.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In her time of need, she said the name she never wanted to hear again. He would save her, regardless of what was going on between the them. She needed her hero.

"Tate!"

He was lurking by the back door of the house when he heard his name being screamed. His eyes widened as he realized who was screaming and, without thinking, he ran to the basement faster than he had ever run in his existence. Thundering down the stairs so fast and hard, he felt as if they'd break underneath him.

There she was.

Violet, the love of his life, was lying on a table and being tortured by two people he could now only think of as monsters. She was bleeding heavily around her stomach and the skin on her legs was now loose and peeling off.

"Leave her alone!" Tate shouted, catching the attention of Hayden but not Charles.

"Really?" Hayden laughed as she turned back to Violet, amused at her decision to summon Tate. She was too busy fighting tears and fear to reply but could see the heartbreak in Tate's eyes as he looked over her damaged body.

"I said leave her alone!" He repeated as he glared at Hayden, killing her with his eyes. How dare she hurt Violet!

"Why should I?" She chuckled walking towards him, running her arms over his chest seductively "You know it's me you really want"

She brought her lips up to Tate's, kissing him roughly and causing Violet to cry out in emotional pain. Tate grabbed her wrists and shoved her back. Hayden chuckled as she snatched a saw off of Charles.

"She brought this on herself, lover boy" Hayden bent down beside Violet and stroked her cheek, making Tate turn scarlet with anger. Smirking, Hayden positioned the saw at Violet's neck and began to saw

"No!" Tate yelled as he pushed Hayden out of the way and knocked her to the concrete ground. Charles, knowing he didn't stand a chance, disappear into the darkness of the basement

"Tate" Violet cried as he untied her from the table. Carefully, She placed her feet on the concrete and stood shakily, clinging into Tate for support "I'm so sorry"

"It's okay" He sobbed over and over again as picked her up and held her tight.

"I love you" She whispered as she tried to keep herself from crying, an impossible task "I love you so so much"

Suddenly, her small, fragile was ripped from his embrace. Hayden, now back on her feet, had hold of the Harmon daughter in a head lock and the cool metal of the saws' teeth pressing against Violet's chest, digging them into her flesh.

"Let her go" Tate growled as he inched closer, not wanting to move too quickly otherwise his precious Violet, who he had got back a matter of seconds ago, would be sawed in half.

"She belongs to me now!" Hayden barked while pressing the saw deeper and deeper, making Violet gasp from lack of oxygen "She's mine"

"She's not an object!" Tate said firmly, raising her voice a little "You can't treat her like your punch bag! I won't let you!"

"Tough shit, Romeo"

As quick as anything, Hayden began to saw through her captive. More of Violet's blood splurted out, splattering patches of crimson all over the basement. Her intestines dropped out of the saw's entrance, curling themselves in a circle like a string of bloody sausages. It was then her knees gave way. Hayden let go off Violet's body and allowed it to fall to the ground. Tate dashed towards it, catching her before she hit the floor again.

"I'll be back for her" The auburn warned as she released the saw from her grip "And then, I'll have her for good"

"He knows"

"Who does? We've always been discreet"

"Yeah but Chad's like a hawk - He sees everything"

"And what's he going to do?"

"Nothing. I won't let him"

"He shall never come between us"

"That queen is everywhere! He won't piss off"

"He loves you"

"I don't love him though!"

"He doesn't know you, not like I do"

"I'm doomed to be stuck here with him"

"You don't have to be. We can be happy together"

"He'll always be here"

"And so will I"

"Thankfully"

"Nothing will ever come between us. I give you my word"


	8. Chapter 8

"Did you find her?" Vivien asked worriedly as she saw her husband walk into the kitchen. Violet had been missing for days and nobody in the house had seen her. Even though Vivien had her new baby, she was still concerned about her older baby.

"Not exactly" Ben replied as he sat at the island. His wife took a set next to him, still worried. 'Not exactly' was never a good answer.

"Not exactly?" She repeated

"I found her body" He clarified "In the crawlspace"

"What?"

"Someone had put makeup on her and smart clothes. There was a note there too - someone had given her a funeral or something"

Tears started to roll down Vivien's face. Violet had never gotten a proper funeral, like her, or a memorial. Vivien didn't even know where the body was or when she died. It was so dreadfully unorganized.

"Who did it?" Viv sniffed

"I don't know"

"What about Tate? Did he do it?"

"If he touched her" Ben fumed. He hated his former patient with every inch of his body "If he even looked at her, I swear to God, I'll-"

"He's not a bad guy, Ben!" Vivien objected, standing up. Ben was clearly surprised by her statement "He didn't do anything to us out of fun!"

"He raped you!"

"For Nora! Nora wanted a baby and he was being kind!"

"He tried to kill me, Viv!"

"You were going to send Violet away!" Vivien shouted "He loves her so much, Ben and he didn't want that to happen!"

"Why are you trying to justify what he did to you? To our family!"

"Because he makes our daughter happy!"

"No, he doesn't!"

"Yes, he does and you know it! Why can't you move on? Violet comes first, she always did, and she deserves to be happy!"

Silence fell in the room. Ben knew Viv was right. Violet had always come first and Ben was blinded by rage. He sighed and put his head in his hands.

"You know, I remember my parents having the exact same argument when I was her age" Vivien sighed, sitting back down.

"Oh yeah, how did that turn out?" Ben asked, smiling weakly.

"We're married, aren't we?"

The house seemed bigger and brighter to Violet as Tate carried her out of the basement. She was currently too weak to move but she would regain strength soon.

Not that she was complaining.

To be curled in Tate's chest was all Violet had wanted since she told him to go away, all that time ago. Being there made her feel safe and loved. He held her so tightly and protected her from anything and everything.

He opened the door to Violet's room and carefully laid her on her bed. She was so exhausted and was already half asleep. After being tied to the chair for days and then bound to a table and cut open, Violet willingly crawled into bed.

"Thanks" She mumbled, closing her eyes and still shaking from shock. Tate, noticing her shivers, took a blanket from one of her drawers and placed it over her fragile body "You don't have to stay here, you know"

"I do" He replied as he sat on the floor by Violet's head. He looked up into her caramel eyes. They were filled with weariness and relief "She'll come back otherwise"

"Then don't stay on the floor" She insisted, propping herself up on her elbows and looking down at him.

Obeying orders, Tate made his way to the other side and climbed in. Violet turned over and wriggled closer, buring her head in his chest.

"I've missed you so much, Tate" Violet whispered as he kissed her forehead and pulled her closer. She tried her best not to cry, so did he. All those emotions that the both of them had pent up for ages finally came out "Promise me something?"

"Anything"

"Don't ever go away again - even if I tell you"

"I promise"

"Are you shitting me?" Hayden screamed as she shoved Charles hard in the chest, making him stumble a bit.

"You were already getting a beating" Charles growled back as he inhaled some more ether. He spend most of his days high to block out the other ghosts. Being in his fantasy world was easier than conversing with the ghosts younger than him "I was not going to let myself stand in the way of that homicidal an his true love any longer!"

"She didn't want him, you asshole!" Hayden raged back, tugging on her hair in anger. She was unbelievably mad at the antique addict for letting her punchbag get away "Just like that psychotic wife of yours didn't want you!"

"She did want me!" Charles shouted back at her, throwing a bottle at Hayden's head. She ducked quickly and laughed, intent on teasing the doctor more.

"But you don't want her, not fully at least" Hayden chuckled antagonizingly "That's right, I know about you and that queer who lived here before the Harmons - Patrick, was it?"

"You leave him out of this!"

"You know, Dr Montgomery, I always suspected you were bi-curious" Hayden sat on the table where Violet had lay prior to her escape, swinging her legs to piss off Charles even more "Might have started a little bit of a wager with the others if I wasn't so sure I was right and they had anything off value"

"I demand you be quiet this instant!"

"Demand? Is that what you say to your boy toy?" She got up and walked around the angered first owner "Oh Patrick, I demand you place your lips on-"

"Don't be vulgar, you whore!"

"Whatever you say. I just wonder how your wife will react when I go and tell her that her husband homosexual"

"Go away!"

Hayden disappeared but her laughter echoed, leaving Charles fretting about the extent of her knowledge.

"It's you" Someone choked as they appeared next to him. Chad - Patrick's partner "You're Pat's secret lover"

"Yes" Charles confessed quietly, not making eye contact "I am"

"Let me get one thing straight" Chad exploded "You might have built this house and you might please him in ways that I can't but I share my man with nobody! If you see him again, then I will make your life into something ugly"

Chad walked away, carelessly pushing a jar of the table. It smashed into ugly shards on the hard ground.

"I suggest you use the shards as a reflective surface so you can look at yourself without crying, you pathetic man-stealer"


	9. Chapter 9

The house echoed with the cries of Nora Montgomery. Her wails bouncing off of the walls and adding to the constant depressing atmosphere lingering in the house.

She didn't want her baby as he had proved too hard to care for and draining. Charles couldn't fill the hole in her heart, as much as he tried to please her in the couple's mortal days and Thaddeus was too feral for nurture.

Nora wanted to feel love, a feeling she had never felt in her existence. Her parents weren't the loving type and whenever she wanted comfort as a child, they would simply pass her over to the nanny. She vowed to herself that she would never be the type of mother hers was. The promise was broken when her husband reconstructed their child and turned him into a monster. It was not human.

Trying to subside her cries, the lady of the house found herself wondering towards the room belonging to Violet. She enjoyed talking to the girl, despite the tremendous age gap. Violet was down to Earth, unlike Nora. Her nanny had always told her that she had her head in the clouds but she didn't really believe that until recently.

"Violet?" Nora said softly as she pushed Violet's door open gently. The girl was spread out on the bed, sleeping soundly.

The sight made Nora's heart melt. She had wanted a daughter after Thaddeus. She visualized a young version of that would braid her hair in front of a roaring fire and that would totter around in Nora's shoes and act all grown up. When she would fall, Nora would pick her up and kiss her forehead. She would do all the things her mother never did with her.

"She's asleep" Tate was sitting the chair by Violet's desk. His feet were resting on the end of her bed and he was looking through the pages of a magazine he had found on the desk but was mostly concentrating on the sleeping girl in front of him "And pretty exhausted"

"Why?" Nora asked, coming into the room further to speak to the blond boy who had done so much for her.

"Kidnapped for a few days by that psycho bitch" He replied, standing up.

"Watch your tongue Tate" Nora reminded, sitting on the edge of the bed and placing her hand on Violet's shoulder, sweeping a stray piece of hair away from her face in the process "I don't like coarse language, you know that. Kidnapped?"

"Yeah" He looked at the ground and sniffed. He wasn't there to protect her, like he promised he always would be. It was all he wanted to do and after recent events, it seemed her wasn't that good at it "And tortured by her...and Charles"

"Charles?" Nora repeated angrily. She had loved her husband at one point but now she loved Violet like a daughter and Tate like a son. She would not let Charles get away with it - he couldn't.

Nora disappeared as quickly as she had came to scold Charles, leaving Tate and sleeping Violet. He took the spot where Nora was sitting moments prior. Love swept over him as he saw how peaceful Violet was and how innocent she looked.

"Was that Nora?" Violet asked sleepily, sitting up slowly and swinging her legs out of her bed.

"Yeah" He answered, putting his hand on her lower arm "Don't get up, Vi. You need to rest"

"I have to see my parents" She replied, stretching.

"Let me come with you!" Tate practically jumped up as soon as Violet got up. Hayden could nab her at any moment and that was not happening again, not on Tate's watch.

"Tate, they're just downstairs" Violet laughed slightly as she slipped on a cardigan over her dirty pyjamas.

"I don't want her to come back though" Tate whimpered.

"I won't let her, I promise" Violet placed her hands on his cheeks and smiled, letting him know everything would be fine.

"She'll try" He said, their foreheads pressed together "I can't let her take you again, Violet. It was bad enough it happened before and I only just got you back. What if she-"

Violet cut him off pressing her chapped lips against his smooth ones. His hands instantly wrapped themselves around her waist as their lips moved in sync. He loved the feeling he got whenever she was around as he so rarely felt it. Butterflies fluttered wildly in his stomach when she kissed him. He hadn't felt it in so long but now she was back. This time for good.

"I have to go" She finalized as she pulled away. Tate pouted but let go anyway. Violet needed to see her parents, he accepted that - It was just the trip down there he was concerned about.

Surprisingly, Violet got to the dining room where her parents were sitting without running into to anyone or getting side-tracked but that by no means meant that the house was quiet. She could faintly hear Nora shouting in the basement, the murmur of Chad and Moira talking in the living room while she attempted to comfort Jeffrey.

"Mom...?" Violet called as she turned the corner into the dining room. Vivien was sitting at the table with a mug of tea wrapped in her hands. She was hunched over and weary-looking, like she hadn't blinked in the year.

"Violet?" Vivien responded as she turned her head slightly, half-expecting to see nobody there. Her imagination liked to toy with her when she was in a vulnerable state "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, it's me" The daughter whispered, looking at her feet. Tears threatening to fall at the comforting sight in front of her.

Before she could say anything else, her mother pulled her into a tight embrace, mascara running crazily down her face. Violet hugged back, relieved to be the arms of Vivien.

"What happened to you?" She sobbed as she let go of her daughter. Violet was weeping but not as much as her "Your father and I were so worried"

"Hayden" Violet cried, not sure where to look. Her walls have been broken down and she could hide it anymore "She took me in the night and tied me to a chair. Then she hit me and got Charles to saw me"

"How did you escape?"

"T-Tate" She whispered "He saved me and kept me safe because she said she was coming back for me, mom"

"You're back now" Viv bawled, hugging her daughter again and rubbing her back "And I'll never let that bitch hurt you again"


	10. Chapter 10

"Tate?" The neighbor called as she entered the house through the back door. She shut it carefully behind her and placed her cigarette purse on the counter "Tate, we need to talk about something"

"I feel like you come over just to piss me off" Tate replied as he strolled into the kitchen, smirking a little. He was in a much better mood than the last time they spoke. Reuniting with Violet had him feeling happier than before but way more tense than usual "What do you want?"

"Take a seat, honey" Constance took a seat and pulled one out for her son too. He refused and instead used it to rest his feet on as he pulled himself up onto the island.

"Please just cut the crap - I don't want to want to stab you again" He said looking at his feet to avoid his mother's eyes.

"It's about your son" She swallowed, bracing herself for an angry reaction and possible another knife in her direction.

"Don't talk to me about that" He groaned, reminding himself off the terrible mistakes he made "I don't have a son"

"Tate, this boy needs to know who his father is" Constance sighed

"I know" Tate put his head in his hand in shame "But it can't be me"

"The other day, he asked me where his daddy was-"

"Tell him he doesn't have one!"

"Michael! His name is Michael and he needs a proper family, not just a grandmother! One day, maybe tomorrow or maybe ten years from now, I will die and he'll have nobody!"

"He can't know me, Mom! He'll complicate things - Vivien trusts me now, Violet let me in again. If I meet him, everything will turn to crap again!"

"Tate, he-"

Suddenly, Constance was interrupted by violent coughing and hacking. She pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and pressed it over her mouth. The cough didn't stop and wasn't going to anything soon.

"I'm going to get you some water" Tate decided as he opened the cupboard and took a glass.

He turned the cold tap on and filled the glass three-quarters of the way. As he turned it the other way and went to put the glass on the island, he noticed it.

A new bright red stain on his mother's handkerchief.

Blood.

"Oh my God, Mom, that's blood!" Tate shouted as he pushed the glass towards her. Her coughing subsided as she took a few sips.

"I know" She replied "This is what I meant"

"Mom, you're scaring me - What the hell's going on?"

"Truth is, Tate, I have primary lung cancer"

"Cancer?" He repeated, whimpering a little. His mother was not his favorite person ever but he didn't wish her dead. He disliked her and loved her at the same time. Cancer was serious and it was as if his whole world had crashed down.

"I guess it was the cigarettes" She said, a few tears escaping "I just wanted you to be there for your son when the t-time came, I didn't expect you to care"

"That's crazy" He wept, wiping the tears from cheeks "Of course, I'd care" He looked into her eyes through his sad, aching ones "I care about you, mom. I care about you a lot even though, you're a bitch sometimes"

She laughed a little, holding her crying son in her arms. She didn't want it to be like this, to be diagnosed, but she didn't exactly get a choice.

Constance wanted to see her son marry a beautiful girl in a pretty church. Adelaide in a bridesmaid and her in a big lilac hat like other mothers whose sons were getting married. Maybe one day, they'd have kids and live in the perfect house where the kids would ride their bikes up and down the street. She'd be sitting in the front porch with her daughter-in-law and ice tea in her hand. Then Tate would return home from work and the kids would run up to him and he'd put them on his shoulders and life would've been perfect.

But you don't choose your path, you don't even choose the shoes you wear when walking down it.

"I'll bring him over later" She let him go

"No" He objected "I mean, I need to check with others but I'll call when I know"

"Okay" She smiled, pinching his cheeks before gathering her things and exiting the way she came.

"Vivien, I need to talk to you" Tate stated as he entered the master bedroom. Thankfully, Ben was in the study and Violet was playing with Beauregard. Vivien offered a smile and sat in the chair.

"Talk away" She replied, trying to lighten the mood. Tate was always serious with her which was a good and a bad thing. Vivien wanted to forgive and forget, as did he, but unfortunately they couldn't wipe the minds of everyone else.

"Constance stopped by" He swallowed and looked up at the ceiling, combing his curls with his fingers "She wants me to meet...him"

"Him?"

"You know who" He sighed, not wanting to play this game again "Our son and I said I'd check with you to see if it was okay"

"If you want to meet him you can" Vivien confirmed as she got up, attempting to leave the room.

"There's more" He held back tears. Talking about such matters tore a hole in his heart "She has cancer"

"Oh my God" She breathed as she covered her mouth in shock. Constance had cancer. The kind-at-heart woman next door had cancer.

"She said that when she dies, she wants him to have a proper family...here"

"He deserves to know his parents" She said, still sad and shocked at the news about Constance "But I have one request"

"Of course - anything you want"

"I don't want this child to call me Mom"

"I'm confused. I mean, I get that he kind of destroyed your family and I'm sorry for that but-"

"Because I want him to call me Grandma"

**Happy Tenth Chapter!**

**Thanks for all the reviews, comments, votes, favourites, follows etc.**

**- Megan x**


	11. Chapter 11

"Grandma?" Tate repeated, too baffled to move a muscle. He knew well that women talked in riddles but this was pretty much indecipherable.

"As of this moment, he's Violet's son and my grandson" She clarified, nodding her head. Tate probably thought she was half-mad but in truth, Vivien was more sane than she had ever been before "I had three children, one of which killed me and Violet killed herself before she could have any"

"I know that but why?"

"There are so many women in this house who wanted a baby but Violet only wanted you" Vivien stressed "Now she has you and he is a part of you"

"You still don't make any sense, Vivien" He sighed

"You both deserve a happy ending and, even though this isn't ideal, it's your own. Please, Tate - this is what you want and what she wants too! It's better for everyone this way"

"Thank you" He replied in a barely audible whisper.

The pair shared an awkward hug before Tate decided it was time to talk to Violet about the decision. This would change everything. If he wasn't dead, Tate would be 37 with his own family.

Unfortunately, it wasn't like that. He was dead and destined to live his days out as a seventeen year old psycho with no hope and most definitely no future. No family or friends, except for Violet (who was his girlfriend) and Beau (who was his older brother). No life.

The person who ruined everything in the first place was also the person who was sorting everything out.

"How was Constance?" Violet asked as she sat cross-legged on her bed, reading, or rather re-reading, a ragged book that Tate recognized from her bookshelf.

"She's fine" He replied, deciding that it was better not to tell her the news. It was better kept secret, for now at least. He didn't want to tell her anything that might make her decide. He wanted her to decide for herself, no news to sway her choice.

"I was thinking about looking in the attic for my old board games" Violet smiled as she closed the book and put it back on her shelf but not before slipping a small piece of paper inside. Tate thought it was better not to ask "I'm sure my mom kept some of them"

"Violet, I need to tell you something" He managed, shaking a bit but not much. He was worried about her reaction, he was always worried about her anyway. Violet was understanding and she really got him like nobody else could. That didn't mean she'd jump on the idea though.

She turned and leaned against the desk, arms folded and eyes focused on her shoes "You scare me when you talk like that" She stated, fiddling with her dirty blond hair self-consciously.

"You don't need to be afraid" He walked towards her and held her hands. She met his eyes for a few seconds. As Tate looked into her caramel orbs, he saw her fear and concern. Violet had seemed fine about being left alone so Tate could see his mother but deep down, she was petrified that Hayden might come back "I just need to say this"

The world held its breath as Tate mustered the courage to tell his love what was happening or what was going to happen. He inhaled slowly, steadying his nerves.

"I'm going to-"

He had to say it, he needed to say it.

"-kick your ass at Snakes&Ladders"

Seven rounds of Snakes&Ladders, three games of Chess, four rounds of Rummy and two hot chocolates later, Tate felt the responsibility to tell Violet about his son weighing down on his shoulders like a ton of bricks. His palms were sweating uncontrollably and all he could think about was that every second that he could be telling her was every second more that Michael didn't have any parents.

"Have you seen Michael recently?" Violet asked unsurely as she dealt another hand.

"Not since he went to my mom's" He replied, picking up his cards and think about how to play them, which wasn't just a figure of speech. He could do this "That's part of why she visited early"

"What did she say?" She asked as she sorted her cards in her tiny hands and examining them.

"She thinks that I should meet him" He waited for Violet's reaction before even daring to blink. He braced himself for her screaming and dramatic exit. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Maybe she would want nothing to do with her brother or him "I said I'd think about it and went to-"

"I want to meet him" Violet cut him off quickly "He's my half-brother and I should give him a chance, I guess. What do you think?"

"I think you should talk to your mom about all this afterwards" Tate responded, suddenly thinking that it would be better if Vivien told her because, after all, she was Violet's mother and it was her idea.

"Me too"

"She said something to me when I went to talk to her" He mentioned as he turned over a card and contemplated putting one of his down but decided against it "She doesn't want to be a mother to him"

"I can understand that" She said softly as she picked up the card and put down one of her own.

"She wants you to be his mom" Tate turned over another card while studying her intently for any signs of rage or sadness. Thankfully, they didn't appear - neither did any other emotion. She sat still, not saying anything "Violet, please say something"

"So...She wants us to be his parents?"

Tate nodded

"But he'd still live with Constance?"

He shook his head

"She's ill, Vi" He explained, taking her hand and gently tracing her scars. They were a part of her now, like his were a part of him. Etched into their ghostly bodies forevermore, never leaving - Just like them "She has cancer"

"What?" She choked, putting her cards down and let a trickle escape her eyes. Seeing her upset or hurting, always made Tate cry. People like her didn't deserve to be unhappy.

"That's why she reached out to us" He cried as he craddled Violet in his arms. She had crawled onto his lap and buried her head in his chest "She knew that she'd die soon and didn't want him to go to some strangers. I don't know why she thought he'd be safe in this goddamn house, maybe she thought he'd be better off than in some group home. She was such a bitch sometimes but she was my mom and no matter how many insults I hurled at her, she would always come back to me"

"It's not fair" Violet sniffed

"Life never is"


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm going to talk to my dad" Violet announced as she combed her hair lazily with her pale fingers and tied it up at the back of her head. She grabbed a cardigan from the desk chair and shrugged it over her shoulders.

"Be careful" Tate said out of reflex. He had absorbed himself in one of the Harmons old photo albums he had found in the attic with Violet's board games. This particular one had some sort of card on the front that said "It's a Girl!" with pink balloons and a stork. Inside, someone (presumably Ben or Vivien) had written:

Announcing the safe arrival of Violet Harmon, weighing 7lb 5oz - With love, Ben and Vivien XO

"I will" She replied as she leaned over and kissed him quickly. He smiled as she closed the door behind her and happily flicked through the photos that were taped to the pages.

He particularly like one on the sixth or seventh page.

Violet looked about three years old and pulling a toothy grin in the direction of the camera. She was surrounded by pillows and plush toys wearing fairy wings and a massive plastic tiara. It looked like she was looking at whoever was taking the picture

The first picture was taken in the hospital. Violet was a tiny pink creature curled in her exhausted mother's arms. Ben sat on the edge of the bed smiling immensely at the camera while his wife managed to grin with the little energy she had left.

The most recent was off Vivien and Violet in Boston. They were holding a massive pretzel each. A pregnant Vivien held the pretzel in front of her and Violet stood next to her, pulling a funny face and pointing at the treat her mother was holding.

From start to finish, Tate looked lovingly over all of them. It was like watching her grow up. She was so happy before everything that had happened to her family: the miscarriage, the affair and this house.

They should've got out while they could.

"Violet" Ben beamed as he saw the figure of his teenage daughter in the doorway of his office. He closed the book he was reading and set it on the coffee table next to his feet.

"Has mom said anything to you about...you know?" She asked as she took a seat on the arm of the couch. Her father nodded slowly "And?"

"It's better this way" He answered "For everyone. Having the kid as your brother is far more dangerous than having him as a son. No kid should grow up confused about their family. This just...uncomplicates things"

"Does it?"

"Of course. Michael will have a mom and a dad with grandparents who will love him, no matter where he came from" He put his hand on hers and smiled "I've seen the way Tate looks at you, honey - He'd do anything for you. While I haven't forgiven him yet, the kid will be safe"

"I wanted to kill myself" Violet whispered, trying to hide her tears "But I didn't want this"

"Nobody did, Vi" Ben comforted as he stroked his daughter's blond hair soothingly "But you just have to go with"

"Dad, I'm scared" She bawled "What if he hates me? What if he knows I'm not his mom? What if I'm a terrible mother?"

"Violet, listen to me" He said sternly as he held her face in his hands "1) He will not hate you, he's five years old - He doesn't know how to hate someone 2) He won't care and 3) How could you even say that? You're a spitting image of your mom and you turned out okay"

"I won't say 'okay' as such" She muttered "I cut and I smoke, Dad - Not exactly how I'd define 'okay'"

"Don't split hairs" He replied "Now get back to wherever you were and stop worrying"

"I see you've decided to take me up on my offer" Hayden grinned as she saw the spirit standing in front of her. This was too good "I knew that you would give in eventually"

"I had to think about it" The spirit replied as they played with their fingers nervously. Perhaps coming to her was a bad idea but they knew that Hayden would protect them. She was in league with almost half of the house and associating themself with her was wise if they wanted to last five minutes after the child set foot in the house "I admit that I was scared"

"You made a wise choice coming to me" She reassured, stroking the spirits arm gently to calm their nerves. The gesture did nothing but apprehended the spirit even more. They were beginning to question themself more and more every second.

"Perhaps this was mistake" They replied sheepishly as they tried to turn away but not succeeding as Hayden had grabbed their arm.

"There's no turning back now, sweetheart" She said, almost regretfully as she lifted herself onto Charles's table and swung her legs in a child-like manner "And I think you'd rather be with me than against me"

"That much is true" They answered, looking at the basement floor to avoid her eyes.

"I can offer you so much" Hayden smiled, possibly out of kindness "Happiness, love, protection. You're not happy with them, are you? I care about everyone in my...circle of trust, should we call it. They only care if you have some sort of blood tie"

"That's not true" They protested quietly, not wanting to believe what the auburn was saying "They do care"

"Do they? Do they really?" Hayden jumped off the table "Put it this way: He hated you, she treated you like a doormat and the daughter still doesn't give a shit about you"

The spirit shook their head

"You're wrong"

"No, I'm not" She held the spirits hands in her own "You know I'm right so are you in or not?"

"I'm in"

**Sorry for late update. I was learning lines for a dram exam & I hate to re-write this bc it didn't save the first time**


	13. Chapter 13

"Stop it" Violet laughed as she sat on the sofa next to her boyfriend. His knees were jumping up and down uncontrollably as if they had a mind of their own. His sleeves were pulled over his knuckles in anxiety as he continued to fidgit wildly.

"Sorry" He apologized, trying to contain his nerves. How was Violet so calm? She was relaxed or so her posture implied. Her legs were placed comfortably on the coffee table and she was slouched a little, arms folded over her chest.

"It's okay to be nervous" She reassured, smiling.

The both of them had tried to dress for the occasion but they didn't own as many clothes as they used to. Being dead not only trapped them in house but also made them refrain from wearing certain articles from when they were alive.

"I know" He sighed, rubbing his eyes and returning her smile "It's good, right? That I'm nervous"

Violet nodded before finally deciding to get some more coffee for her and Tate. Not that he needed the caffeine, because this was a brand new situation for her and she wasn't sure quite what else to do.

She set their mugs down on the counter before reaching for the pot.

"Knock, knock" A familiar voice announced themself as they pushed the door door open. Violet stood stuck to the spot, failing to mental prepare herself to meet her 'son'. She swallowed as she turned around.

"Hi" She gulped as she focused her coppery eyes on the hand that Constance was holding. Her hands began to shake.

"Hello" He said as he looked up at his new mother figure.

Michael was pretty tall for his age and definitely resembled Tate in looks and stance. He had curly blond hair, the same shade as his father's but his mother, or rather grandmother's eyes. The hand that Constance wasn't holding was sitting in his pocket. He came across as confident like Vivien but had Tate's winning smile.

"Michael, this is your mother" Constance introduced, pushing him gently in Violet's direction. Both Constance and Violet were near to tears. He stepped closer to his new mother, studying her and soaking up her essence.

"Hi there" Violet grinned, regaining her confidence and crouching down to his height. He smiled back at her and she couldn't help but see her boyfriend staring back at her.

Tate, who had realised that the coffee was taking a long time, chose that moment to enter the kitchen. His mouth hung open for a second before seizing the moment and joining Violet at Michael's level.

"Hey there" Tate beamed at his son.

"Who are you?" He asked, puzzled by the two new people of importance in his life.

"I'm your dad" He replied, extending his hand for the five year old to shake. Michael took it and shook his father's hand firmly, nodding his head from the force he was putting into the gesture.

"I'm Michael" The child introduced himself.

"I know" Tate laughed.

"I'm just going to leave you to it" Constance decided, wiping a single tear away from her eyes. The scene was all too much for her.

"Are you sure? Do you want some coffee before you go?" Violet asked as she stood up and stepped closer to the neighbour.

"No, no" She insisted "Have fun now"

"Do you want the grand tour?" Tate asked excitedly as he led Michael through to the dining room. Michael nodded eagerly as he took his father's hand.

The young couple took him to the attic first. They climbed up the ladder into the attic. Upon arrival, Violet turned on the sma, dim light and illuminated the room slightly. Beau was rolling the ball back and forth against the wall. He squealed in joy when he saw his brother and Violet along with the young child.

"Dad, who's that?" Michael questioned as he saw the dark figure of his uncle but he shyed away when Beau turned around and bounded towards the family.

"This is uncle Beauregard" Tate explained as he put his arm around his deformed brother.

"Hi" The boy squeaked, waving. Beau grunted friendly in response.

"Beau's always around to play with" Violet explained, picking up the ball and handing it to her son "Go on"

Michael sat himself down on the floor and rolled the ball gently to his uncle. Happily, Beau rolled it back, making his nephew giggle.

"Wow" Tate remarked as he stepped back and stood next his girlfriend, putting his arm around her shoulders. Violet wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her head against his ribs "Like a proper family"

"Yeah" She agreed, looking up at him and smiling "He's really taken to him"

Tate smiled back, kissing her forehead softly. This was their life, the one they deserved. With Michael, with Beau and with each other. The ones they loved, forever.

Life in the infamous murder house was finally looking up.

There were three of them lurking down in the corners of the basement. Scheming, strategizing and sharing plans.

"He's here"

"The boy?"

"Yes"

"Finally - we can get this thing over with"

"Not just yet"

"Why not?"

"They'll suspect something if we act now"

"Agreed"

"We should wait until Halloween"

"That's two months away!"

"Suck it up. He deserves to pay for everything he's done"

"Toying with Violet was just the beginning of it"

"What do you mean?"

The leader smiled deviously as they looked around the cold basement for any signs of other spirits.

"He thinks he's got a clean slate. That's he's beginning again and that nothing happened"

They looked their helpers in the eyes, making that their message would be received and understood.

"But everything's happened"

"He deserves everything we hurl in his direction"

"They don't suspect a thing and they won't"

"We'll always be a step ahead of him to knock him down further than he was before that pathetic girl took his sorry ass back"


	14. Chapter 14

Constance picked Michael up in the evening, after he had spent the day with his parents exploring the house. She had never seen him so elated when the visit was over. He was babbling on about his mom and dad, uncle Beauregard, his other grandparents and all the fun that he had during his time in the house.

It was a strange kind of feeling. Constance wasn't sure if she was supposed to be overcome with happiness or jealousy. She had raised this child alone and now that she was introducing Michael to new people, new family members, it felt like she was losing him.

But you couldn't use something you had never had, right?

Michael was never truly hers. He was someone else's child that she was caring for. She tried to repeat this to herself over and over but didn't believe it.

"Grandma, can I have something to eat?" The child asked as he stood in front of his sitting grandmother.

"Not now, angel" Constance replied dismissively as she contemplated reaching for her cigarette purse "I'll start with your supper in a bit"

"Now!" Michael screamed, stamping his foot and sucking his breath. He narrowed his eyes at his grandmother and suddenly a few pots from the cupboard fell to the kitchen floor, cracking and breaking instantly.

"Michael!" Constance shouted back at the five year old. She quickly picked up the pieces of broken pot and put them on the table "You will wait until your supper or I'll put you back in the bad boy's closet!"

"Now!" He cried again "Now! Now! Now!"

"I will not allow this behaviour!" Constance hissed as she bent down to Michael's height "I have cared for you all your life and I have given you all you have ever wanted! The next time you dare break anything of mine, I'll leave you on the steps of a church so Jesus can try to save you!"

The angry child stormed off and the widow smiled, satisfied at her work.

"Is there a bed in the attic?" Violet asked Nora as they sorted out the things they could pass down to Michael.

After the incident with Charles, Nora looked emptier than ever. Parts of her had still loved him despite everything he had done. She didn't think he'd ever try harming anyone again but Nora had clearly thought Charles had some humanity left in him. Humanity crashed and burned when Thaddeus had been delivered back to the house in pieces. He was as heartbroken as Nora was but didn't cope with it in the same way.

"Only cribs" Nora replied as she folded a blanket and set it beside her on a pile. The two spirits were on the floor of Violet's bedroom sorting through boxes that Tate was bringing down from the attic "I would guess Michael would be too old for most of Thaddeus's former possessions"

"Was it really five years ago?" The younger sighed as she pulled out a stack of Beatrix Potter books from a box on the bed.

Five years since she had killed herself. Five years since her mother fell pregnant and died during childbirth. Five years since Hayden killed her father. Five years since she had ended it with Tate. Five years since they moved into the house.

A lot had happened, to say the least, but it felt like she was stuck in a moment she would never get out of.

"I believe so" Nora sighed as she carefully placed a rattle on the rug.

"I still don't fully forgive him" Violet confessed, slumping against the bed frame. The things he had done were like the scars on her wrist - She forgot about them but they were always there always would be.

"You have every right to still be upset, Violet" Nora soothed, placing her cold hand on the teenager's.

"I love him, Nora" She nodded "and he saved me and I I thought meeting Michael would make it all better but somehow, I feel the same as I did before"

"And how's that?"

"Sad"

The mouth of the blond on the other side of the door parted in disbelief and hurt. He left the last box by the door and disappeared, not wanting to face Violet after hearing everything she had said.

He needed time as did she.

Maybe they weren't meant to be, after all.

"I am past understanding you, Pat" Chad said shakily as he shook his head, tears spilling from his brown eyes. The more he tried to speak, the more he heard the individual pieces of his heart crack.

"You're so melodramatic" Pat scoffed "What have I done now? Don't tell me - I've left a sock on the floor! Or maybe it's because I've eaten a carb!"

"I wouldn't count Charles as a carb!" Chad snapped

"Wow, Chad" Pat responded, clapping sarcastically as the pain spread across his boyfriend's face "What a comeback"

"How could you?" He cried "I loved you!"

"And pigs also fly, in case you didn't notice"

"I know, I've sat next to you on flights"

"Don't act like you're such a saint - I've seen the way you look at him!"

"Who?!"

"Ben!" Pat yelled "I know you're in love with him!"

"But I never cheated!"

"You might as well have!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That this relationship was going down the toilet anyway!"

Pain, hurt and betrayal rushed through Chad's veins and blocking them with heartbreak, killing him all over again.

**Sorry for slow update.**

**Writer's block actually sucks so much**


	15. Chapter 15

Sadness consumed him as he replayed what had happened in his head, what she had told Nora. It was like being thrown in an icy lake with no clothes on. At first, the shock rippled through his body and then the cold stabbed through him like he had been stabbed in the chest. He was numbed from head to toe.

The agonizingly painful bottom line was that he was trying to heal a bullet wound with a band-aid. The damage had been done and he was naïve to think that they would be exactly the same as they were before she found out about what he had done.

He stumbled up the stairs, wanting to see Violet and sort things out once and for all. She wasn't in her bedroom and normally that would have been enough for Tate to leave the room and check somewhere else but he found himself drawn to the bookcase.

Then he remembered it.

The piece of paper she had slipped into the book when he went to talk to her about Michael. He traced his fingers along their spines until they came to rest on the one she had placed it in. Tugging gently, he removed the worn book from the shelf and shook it until the slip fell onto the floor.

Unfolding it carefully, he saw that she had scrawled down some names:

Hayden,

Charles,

Moira?

Dad

"Tate? Where have you been?" Violet asked as she saw her boyfriend in her bedroom "I've looked everywhere for you!"

"What does this mean?" Tate questioned as he turned around and showed her the paper.

"How did you find it?" She replied, taking the paper from him and shoving it in a pocket, folding her arms over her chest.

"I saw you put it in the book" He answered "Violet, what does it mean?"

Looking around to check for others, Violet grabbed Tate's sleeve and pulled him into her bathroom, making sure to bolt the door behind her.

"Well?" He was beginning to grow impatient.

"It means that Hayden didn't take her anger out on me for the sake of it" She whispered, sighing "It was part of a plan that they've been working on since I died"

"So you're saying that they wanted us back together?" He clarified. She nodded.

"I think that Hayden, Charles, Moira…and my dad want to get rid of us, for good"

"Why?" He asked, still unsure of the situation.

"I don't know yet" She swallowed shakily "That's what I'm trying to find out but you can't tell anyone anything"

He nodded

"But how do you-"

"-Know?" She finished, leaning against the sink "Hayden's mad but she doesn't do something for the sake of doing it. It must be part of a bigger plan and I think it was my dad's idea"

"Violet, we can't just go around accusing everyone of conspiring against us" Tate sighed "Your dad loves you!"

"But he doesn't love you or Michael" Violet whispered "And if he doesn't love both of you, he can't love me"

The group met again, shortly after midnight near the crawlspace. There were four of them in total but they had other ghosts on their radar to recruit. They could take down the house.

But not just yet.

They had one mission, one goal: Make him pay.

Tate Langdon had made so many miserable and needed to be taught a lesson. He needed to pay for his crimes and all the pain and the sorrow he caused.

Even if it hurt others in the house.

"What is it with all the men in this house?" Nora muttered as she spied Chad bawling his eyes out on the stairs. She huffed as she tugges at his shirt and yanked him up from his sitting position "Are you going to tell me why you're behaving like an infant or shall I just leave to wallow in your own sadness?"

"Why's it any of your business?" Chad snapped, sniffling as she shrugged the original owner off of him and walked down the rest of the stairs to escape her.

"Because you're aggravating" Nora replied honestly, tired of his moaning. She stood a foot behind him, intent on silencing him and returning to what she was supposed to be doing.

"Well, I'm terribly sorry madam" He sassed as he spun to face the lady, slightly angered at her pestering "I didn't realise nobody gave a shit about you too!"

"Do you have to use such disgusting language?" Nora yelled at him before composing herself "Why are you acting like a woman on her monthly?"

"My boyfriend basically told me that he would never truly love me!" The man raged as he banged against the hard basement wall "Now you know! Are you happy? Do you want to piss the hell off now?"

"Language!" The former lady of the house shouted once again "You think I don't know how that feels? My husband didn't love me either so deal with it! If he did, he would not be with your boyfriend all the live-long day!"

"You know?" Chad whispered sadly

"I've known about them for a while now" She nodded

"And you didn't tell me?!" He yelled at her

"I'm sorry, it is not something you spread!" She shouted back

"You bitch" He growled "Stay the hell away from me if you don't wan to eat another bullet!"

"I happily would" She retorted "But it's not like I can walk out of the house any time I please"

She stepped closer to him, anger radiating off of her

"I am not leaving and neither are you so I suggest you deal with whatever you need to and compose yourself immediately"

Just like that, she was gone.

Chad left shortly afterward, failing to notice the figures standing near by.

"We definitely need her"


End file.
